Electric bicycle.



Patented Aug. 2!, 1900.

E S N A H A ELECTBIC BICYCLE (Application filed Feb. 1, 1889.!

2 Sheets-Sheet (No Model.)

llo. -656,323.

. Patented Aug. 2I,' I900. A. HKNSEL.

ELECTRIC BICYCLE.

(Application fllali Feb. 1, 1899.)

Q0 loam 2 Sheen s-Sheet 2.

UNITED; ST TES? e p "ZEITZQ GERMANY- eics'cizg 1' gsrnorrrcsr'ioiiloming lea that lPatent no." 55 ,323, dated August 21, 1900. JApjilicntlonfiledPebi-uary1,1899- Serialll'm'lilifldi (Remodel-l concern: Be, it-kncwn that I, ALBERT Hlinsnn, a cititenor the Eni pireofGermany, residing at Zeitz, Germany, have invented certain new and useful I mpro'vementsin Electric Bicycles, of whichjjthe following is a specification."

, This-'inyention. relates to bicycles, velocipedes,1orfsimilar'vehicles, but more particularly to driving meanstherefor, the object beingto provide a driving mechanism which .nia'y be easily applied fto such vehicles, and an its complete form comprises an electric motor support-ed by the frame ofv the bicycle and mechanically.connected with the drivewheel thereotand a storage battery to be charged from vsaid motoras the bicycle runs ,down a descent, said storage battery beingintendedtosupplycurrent or electromotive driving mechanism thereof.

force tosaid motor for actuating the bicycle when hill-climbing, and suitable clutch and switch devices toenable the rider to readily cut in and out the required parts, as more fully and clearly pointed out and claimed hereinafter. I i In. order that my invention may be ,the more readily understood and carried into practical 'eEect,-'I have illustrated the same in the accompanying drawings as applied to an ordinary bicycle and to a ladys machine.

In the drawings,',Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bicycle provided with my improve- Fig. 2 is a broken plan view of the V Fig. 3 is a side elevation-of a ladys machine constructed in accordance with my'inventio-n, and Fig. 42 is a broken plan view of same.

ments.

. In.the drawings like letters refer to like parts throughout all the figures.

The improved bicycle shown in Fig. -1 re-' sembles the ordinary machines as to the outer.

appearance thereof, except that the frame'of said bicycle is provided with intermediary bars 8 to support a suitable electric motor D', specially constructed for the pur ose. The upper tube of therbicycle-fram carries a storage battery 13-, removably secured thereto in any suitable way and serving to store the force produced by the electric motor andto restore such force afterward according to so.

with suitable bearings to receive a shaft a,

need. The diagonal brace-tube S is provided one end of which carries a sprocket-wheel b,

a belt-pulley dbeing" loosely mounted on the other'end of saidshaft and which may be readily thrown into engagement with-or keyed on said 'ournal by suitably actuating the lever h 0 clutch device 2 in order to rotate 1 with thesame. The'sprocket-wheel b is connected, bymeans of chain K, with a suitably,

constructedwheel R, preferably made of aluminium and keyed on the axle of drivewhe'el R, and'pulleyd is connected, by means of a cord, a belt, or the like K', with the'electric ni'otor shaft'D'. (See Figs. land 2.)" The bicycle being thusconstructed, the rider may actuate his machine either in pedaling as nsualwhen running over alevel or in employ- 1 ing the electric motor as a. brake-when running over an inclineor desceng'whereby the storage battery willbe charged or cause said storage battery to supply current to the electric motor wherrhill-climbing to add the motive force thus produced to that already due to the strain of the rider. As it is desiredto actuate the electric motor I), and thereby produce'electromotive force toiie stored for subsequent use, the rider has but to operate lever h to throw pulley din engagement with journal (1., whereby the rotations imparted to sprocket?) by wheel R will be transmitted to the motor-shaft D and the current thus produced caused to .passinto said storage battery by actuating a suitable switch, which may-be arranged on thehandlei-bar of the bicyclefas indicated by letter X in Fig. 1. Thus the electric motor will actas a brake, andthe force which was hitherto lost by braking or back-pedaling will be suitably transformed and stored, as described. The policy d being again disengaged from journal 0. (by actuating lever h) and the storage battery cut out. by switch X, the electric. motor will again be inoperative. In hill-climbing the circuit of the electric motor and the battery will again he closed and its. currentsupplied to the electric motor. The battery 13 may also be employed to maintain an'electric lamp Y and a bell Z 'or'the like; as desired.

The embodiment shown in Figs. 3 and 40f the accompanying drawings and applied to a .l'adys machine is slightly modified in thatthe storage battery B is removably secured to a supplemental brace s of the frame, the

electric motor D being supported on the lower 2 I 1 ceases fork of said frame and the jgdrivin-g 1nechanism being constructed auds'a rranged without the usual sprocket-wheels and chain. The drive-wheel Ref the machine engages a suitably-grooved wheel b,journaled in thelower 'fork of the frame and the shaft a of which carries a pulley 01 near said wheel I) and a seeondsimilarpulleymatthe endthereof,saidpulleys d-. and as being loosely mounted on said shaft. v The motor-shaftD carries two pulleys t and f, secured thereto, the smaller, t, of which is located in front and connected by belt m with pulley d, the larger pulley f be- .ing in front and connected with-pulley or by belt 13?. Between loose pulleys dand a: and

mounte'd on shaft a I have provided a suitable clutch device 2', "adapted to key either .pulley d or pulley w on shaft a b'yactuat- .ing-lever h to impart motion to'the electric motor, the intermediary position= of said clutch device z corresponding to the rest of said motor. As will be seen from the drawingsFig's. 3 and 4, the movement 'of the pedals will be transmitted t6 wheel b and therefore to'the drive-wheel R of the machine, through the agency of gear-wheel r, secured to the crank-axle and meshing with, gear, wheel-r, secured to shafta. The peculiar arrangement of the driving mechanism and thedouble connection of pulleys d with 1fv and a; with f allow of increasing or decreasiugthe rate of speed of the electricmotor.

- I wish'it to be understood that I do not con-' fine myself to the precise construction and companying drawings, so long as the peculiar arrangement of the parts as shown in the ac- 1 features of my invention'be retained.-

Having fully described, my invention', what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a bicycle or like vehicle, the combination with the frame, of an electric motor and a storagebattery secured to said frame,-

a shaft mounted on the frame, gearing for transmitting 'rota'tionof the drive-wheel to said shaft, gearing between the shaft of the electric motor and the aforesaid shaft, and

means for throwing the shaft of the motor intoand out of gear with the other shaft.

2. ,zIn a bicycleior; like vehicle, the combination with the bicycle-frame, of an electric motor and a storage battery suitably secured to said frame, and means for directly actnat ing said electric motor by the movement of the drive-wheel of the machine, substantially as set forth."

- 3. In abicycle or-like vehicle, the combi- I nation withthe bicycle-frame,-,of an electric motor and a storage batterysupported on said frame, a gear-wheel-secured on the pedalaxle'and meshing with a toothed pinion, secured on a shaft mounted on the lower fork of'the bicycle and carryingasuitably-grooved =wh'eel engagingthedrive-wheel of the machine, said shaft furthermore carryingtwo loose pulleys connected with two suitable ,pnile'ys of diiferent diameter's'secured on the ALisER'r IL-TtNsEL. j

Witnesses: v

RUDOLPH FRICKE,

' WILLIAM Harman.- 

